Reusable bags are not just a fad of the now, but an important piece of the future. Plastic bags are a major pollutant of our world and are extremely wasteful. If our society can turn to reusable, cloth bags, “one person using reusable bags over their lifetime would remove more than 22,000 plastic bags from the environment” (2017). By using reusable bags, that is over 7 TRILLION plastic bags that can be abolished within the United States. The best part about this is that you do not even have to go and buy reusable bags! Today we are going to make our own with only a pair of scissors and an old t-shirt!

Necessities:

  • Scissors
  • T-shirt (any size – bigger t-shirt=bigger bag)
  • Ruler/Tape Measure
  • Marker

We are going to make two styles of bags today, the first is Fringe Reusable Bag!

Step 1: Take your t-shirt, and cut each of the sleeves off right along the seam.

Step 2: Cut the neck of the t-shirt off starting 2 inches from the seam of the neck.

Step 3: At the bottom of the t-shirt, draw lines 2 inches tall and 1 inch apart. Proceed to cut along each of the lines to create your fringe. If you want a longer fringe look, feel free to cut your fringe 2 ½ to 3 inches rather than 2.

Step 4: Tie each corresponding front piece and back piece of fringe together. These knots are what will be holding your produce, so tie close and tight nots. Feel free to double knot.

YOUR FRINGE REUSABLE BAG IS DONE!

The second bag is the Inverted Reusable Bag! If possible, I recommend using a minimum of a size medium shirt. The example is a size small, and it will work just fine, but it is a smaller bag.

Step 1 & Step 2: Repeat steps 1 and 2 from the Fringe Reusable Bag.

Step 3: Layout your t-shirt flat, and cut off the bottom inch of your t-shirt. Once the strip is off, cut the circle to create one, long piece.

Step 4: **IMPORTANT: If you have a design on the shirt that you would like to be shown, turn your shirt inside out before continuing with Step 4. Gather the bottom of your t-shirt in one hand, and with the strip of t-shirt that you just cut off, proceed to tie the bottom of the shirt. Tie this as tight as you can, and be sure to double knot. With the remainder of the piece of fabric, feel free to wrap it around the bottom and give it a third knot.

Step 5: Cut the long ends off of the tie, and turn the t-shirt right side out.

YOUR INVERTED REUSABLE BAG IS DONE!

**Note: The final bag picture is holding a pack of miniature oranges!

Have fun with these bags! They can represent you, your favorite sports team, school, TV show, or whatever else you and your t-shirt stand for. As a helpful tip, I recommend keeping these bags in your car so that you will not forget them when you go shopping! You can keep them in your trunk, or the pocket of the seats. Either way, you will be shopping in style and saving the planet, how cool is that?

Thanks for crafting with me, and I can’t wait to craft with you next week. Keep it creative!

Your Craft Corner Guru,